ISPs free with fibs – ad watchdog

What's the small print say?

The advertising watchdog has written to 100 ISPs urging them to clean up and stop misleading consumers.

After months of receiving complaints from punters fed-up with ambiguous ads and poor services, the Advertising Standards Authority has finally had enough.

In its latest monthly round-up, the ASA says the "marketplace is confused" and that matters need to be simplified.

The "confusion" appears to lie in the "free" claims made by some ISPs.

Said ASA spokesman Gary Ward: "We need to make sure [ISPs] make no 'free' claims if they [consumers] have to pay for anything."

BT was one of a handful of ISPs that was fingered by the ASA, which upheld four of six complaints against it. These included publishing misleading information and not making it clear that the service was not available nationally.

A spokesman for BT told Reg: "We apologise if we have been, in any way, improper in our advertising, although we don't believe we have been.

"However, we will take note," he said.

This month's hall of shame also includes Appleonline, ntl and Plusnet. ®